#1.
Black Mountain Crest
An inspiring overnight backpack
or shorter day hike across
the Black Mountains, with
summits all well above 6.000
feet. Views are astounding
along this sparsely vegetated
ridge, plummeting 4000 feet
i...
From the guidebook "Hiking
North Carolina" Hiking
Trails
Asheville, NC - Hiking -
12 miles

#2. Mount Mitchell
Mt. Mitchell—the highest
peak east of the Mississippi—is
a crowning part of the Blue
Ridge Parkway experience.
The only motorized access
to the mountain is from
the Parkway, at Milepost
355.3, and the...
From the guidebook "Hiking
the Blue Ridge Parkway"
Hiking
Trails
Asheville, NC - Hiking -
12 miles

#3. Uwharrie National
Forest
Wonderful, woodsy circuit
hikes in Uwharrie National
Forest, some of substantial
length. The Uwharrie and
Dutchmans Creek trails form
a figure eight that when
linked with forest roads
can create hikes...
From the guidebook "Hiking
North Carolina" Hiking
Trails
Asheboro, NC - Hiking -
20.1 miles

#4. Mount Pisgah
Area Trails
Driving the Parkway from
Asheville to Mt. Pisgah
is a humbling experience
—especially if you
stopped by Biltmore House
and Gardens on the way through
town. George W. Vanderbilt’s
fascinating palatial ...
From the guidebook "Hiking
the Blue Ridge Parkway"
Hiking
Trails
Brevard, NC - Hiking - 6.4
miles

#5. Appalachian
Trail: Clingmans
Dome to Spence Field
This hike is a long, difficult,
beautiful hike, and by the
end, you will have your
own definition of a southern
Appalachian knob. The trail
follows an easy descent
for about 3 miles; then
a short roc...
From the guidebook "Exploring
the Appalachian Trail: Hikes
in the Southern Appalachians"
Hiking
Trails
Cades Cove, NC - Hiking
- 22.1 miles

#6. Appalachian
Trail - Southern
Balds Section
An inspiring hike on the
Appalachian Trail (AT) over
the mountaintop meadows
called the Southern Balds.
As a whole, this is a wonderful
but strenuous backpacking
trip. Hikers can also make
day hikes t...
From the guidebook "Hiking
North Carolina" Hiking
Trails
Bakersville, NC - Hiking
- 13 miles

#7. Appalachian
Trail: Allen Gap
to Devil Fork Gap
The northern half of this
hike borders the Bald Mountain
Ridge Scenic Area in the
Cherokee National Forest,
and the AT runs along a
rugged, isolated crest.
Outstanding views, masses
of rhododendron a...
From the guidebook "Exploring
the Appalachian Trail: Hikes
in the Southern Appalachians"
Hiking
Trails
Hot Springs, NC - Hiking
- 20.2 miles

#8. Gregory Bald
Overnight Loop
This hike combines the best
that the high and low country
have to offer. First, you'll
travel up the Twentymile
Trail past Twentymile Cascades
to the Upper Flats streamside
camp. Then an arduous climb...
From the guidebook "Day
& Overnight Hikes in
the Great Smoky Mountains
National Park" Hiking
Trails
Fontana Village, NC - Hiking
- 15.7 miles

#9. Craggy Gardens
A more than mile-high area
of crags and bald mountains
with a variety of hikes,
easy to moderate, with spectacular
vistas and a waterfall.
General location: Blue Ridge
Parkway....
From the guidebook "Hiking
North Carolina" Hiking
Trails
Asheville, NC - Hiking -
6.2 miles

#10. Black Mountain
Campground
Black Mountain Campground
has been around a long time.
Over the years it has been
taken care of well. Now
it is like an antique, treasured
by families that have been
returning to Black Mountain
throug...
From the guidebook "The
Best In Tent Camping: The
Southern Appalachian &
Smoky Mountains" Hiking
Trails
Burnsville, NC - Campgrounds

North American wonders reach from from the lofty peaks
of the Cascade Mountain range to the watery paradise of Florida's Everglades.

The South American natural forces can be witnessed in
countless forms--you'll find them cascading over the Devil's Throat of
the Iguazu Falls, flooding Llanos grasslands.

The Australian Great Barrier Reef stretches to Papua
New Guinea, while New Zealand's Tongariro volcano towers above waves of
rugged hills.

The African Congo Basin is a network of swamps and emerald
forests as diverse as the four counterpoints it unifies. The European
and Middle Eastern natural histories include building castles on its rocky
peaks, painting frescoes in its caves, trading through its passes, and
perishing at its mercy.

The European and Middle Eastern natural
histories include building castles on its rocky peaks, painting frescoes
in its caves, trading through its passes, and perishing at its mercy.

The dual Asian power of nature is demonstrated through
the elements at play in Asia. Fire-spewing volcanoes raise new lands from
their summits.Ocean-worlds house water-kingdoms. Finally earth-bound and
sky-stretching mountains--figures of inspiration.

The Polar Regions are an icy wilderness where the frozen
fingertips of polar icecaps feel their way across stretches of land and
water, the Arctic and Antarctic form the polar regions of our globe.